Are you Experienced? Ford wants you to be...

The new &quot;T Series&quot; is intended to match Holden's hot-rods. Now the marketers must convince buyers to part with $75,000 for a Falcon. JOSHUA DOWLING reports.

02 September 1999

Ford likes to watch. After observing Holden build "special vehicles" for almost 20 years, the maker has created its own range. Appropriately, the cars are built for voyeurs.

Ford Tickford Experience customers will be able to click on to the Net and watch their car being built "live" online - or to see it in the metal on the production line. After taking delivery, they will be able to watch it being serviced.

No-one at Ford is sure if this is a good idea. But from the heirachy down, they're trying desperately to be different and giving it a go anyway.

A plate on each engine, for example, is engraved with the builder's name (a touch of exclusivity shared, however, with Aston Martin).

If we are to believe the hype, Ford Tickford Experience is not a competitor for Holden Special Vehicles; rather, it is to Ford what Germany's AMG and M division are respectively to Mercedes and BMW - a fine-tuning house.

FTE vehicles have subtle styling (on these hot-rods, the bootlid wings are optional) and they have significant engine, brake and suspension tuning modifications.

There are two "T Series" Falcons (TE50 and TS50) and one Fairlane (TL50), priced decidedly close to their ostensible non-rivals from HSV (see panel).

Tickford's boutique production line, adjacent to Ford's Broadmeadows factory, will produce three T Series cars a day, in addition to building XR6 and XR8 sedans and taxi packs. Five engine builders spend between three and six hours on each T Series V8.

Ford does not accept that the engine and brake improvements merely bring the cars up to speed with the Commodore. It also denies the fitment of larger brakes is an admission that those on the current car are inadequate.

Ford Australia boss Geoff Polites sees the arrival of these flagships as "better late than never".

"There's no doubt we were slow to react," Polites admitted at this week's launch.

According to head-to-head tests by the Drive section of The Age (see Drive New Car Tests), HSV's Clubsport automatic was significantly quicker in the 0-100km/h sprint than the most powerful T Series car, the TS50, taking 6.6 seconds against the Ford's 7.5.

More bad news: the HSV is $19,000 cheaper than the fastest Ford.

Unable to match HSV in power - the cheapest and dearest Fords share a 200kW V8, the mid-range TS50 has a 220kW, but all HSV V8s have at least 250kW - Ford has concentrated on other key areas.

Even under the harshest use, tyres do not appear to wear unduly thanks to the finely tuned suspension. The steering is sharp and well balanced and the automatic gear changes are luxury-car smooth.

The brakes are a big improvement but lack low-speed bite. Grooves in the discs help both to clean the pads and provide a consistent pedal feel, but the brakes are noisy when used at high speeds. The pedal itself is race-car hard - like the use of chrome on the T Series, this is an acquired taste.

The T Series cars are better equipped than equivalent HSVs. Tiptronic-style buttons on the steering wheel, carbon-fibre mouldings in the cabin and leather upholstery on most models disguise the fact that the cars are not the biggest - or fastest - guns in town.